The cutback of the number of banks in Russia isn't concerned with the crisis

author: Alfia Sharafutdinova

The number of banks in Russia is going on coming down. In November and for the first five days of December four banks have left the market. This information was presented by the state corporation “The Deposit Insurance Agency” and the matter was the banks – the participants of the insurance system. Such statistics can be taken as the basic, since more than 90% of Russian banks are the participants of this system.

According to the Agency's information on October 31 there were 903 banks, registered in the deposit insurance system, of 991 banks, working in Russia. But at present time there are 899 banks, working in the system. In January 2011 the number of such banks was equal to 910.

In opinion of the head of the Credit Organizations Association's press-service Dmitry Rudzit these events can't be concerned with the crisis phenomena in the global economics.

“The processes of merger and absorption are recently actively running and it can be explained by the demand of the regulator concerning the increase in capitals and assets. Many participants of the market simply don't want to invest additional means in order to stay in this rather complicated and risky business” — he said to the news agency “Bashinform”.

“One should understand that in the overwhelming majority of cases liquidation doesn't mean that this or that bank is closed because it fails to fulfill some obligations before its clients. The majority of such banks were absorbed by bigger banks” — the deputy chairman of the Association of Young Businessmen of Russia, the regional attorney of the national association of credit brokers and financial consultants of Russia in Bashkortostan Renat Khilajev said — “Thereby we are watching two tendencies: the first one is enlargement of the banks through absorption of smaller banks by the bigger ones and the second one is reorganization in the bank market. In our opinion both tendencies will favorably affect the clients – both corporate and natural – because we will get more stable and more transparent bank market in a whole through enlargement and reorganization”.